Chapter 5: Like Sister

When Anna saw Kristoff and Elsa slip away, her heart skipped a beat. Had he finally worked up the courage to ask her sisters permission to marry her? She knew Elsa would approve; she'd taken her time with Kristoff. She knew that he loved her, knew his bad habits and good, and the same went for him. He was honest and strong, and wasn't afraid to let Anna know when she got out of hand. As the princess, no one had called her on misbehavior except for Bishop Harald and her parents. Sometimes it was irritating, but it was good to know that Kristoff loved her enough to speak up when she was wrong.

Then she saw Kristoff's face after Elsa had handed him something. She'd never seen so much anger and rage on Kristoff's face before. His normally kind and placid demeanor had been twisted into a grotesque mask. She couldn't hear what was being said, but her sister had that icy look on her face, and Kristoff looked ready to kill.

No! No, how could this happen! Kristoff was going to abandon her, lock her away and never love her again. Anna couldn't face that. Couldn't face being abandoned again. She couldn't live that way; wouldn't live that way! In a panic, Anna started to run. She didn't know where she was running, only that she had to get away. Had to find someplace safe. If Kristoff couldn't talk to her, he couldn't abandon her. She would abandon him, find someplace where she could be really loved.

She heard cries behind her, but Anna ignored them. She fled to the docks, desperately searching for a boat that could take her away. She didn't even see the man before she bumped into him.

"Oof!" Anna gasped, falling flat on her rear and looking up in a daze at the mountain of a man before her.

"Bless me! My child, are you alright? Why do you flee the city in such haste?"

"I have to get away! Anna, she'll freeze it all, catch me, get Kristoff on me! Please, take me away, save me!" Anna begged, tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't look back. She could hear her sister and Kristoff running towards her.

"Your sister? Dios, you are the princess, Anna. My child, why do you fear your sister? No, there is no time. Come with me. Explain later."

The man led her into a boat, which silently glided away from the shore. Anna was in such a state of shock she didn't even notice the light that glowed over the oars, or that the man wasn't even touching them as they dipped in and out of the water.

She felt a sudden burst of cold and saw the water around her freeze. "No! Elsa, Elsa you can't do this to me!" Anna cried, putting her face in her hands and weeping.

"En el nombre de Dios, que te rompa el poder!" the man bellowed, the struck the ice with an oar. Instantly, the ice melted, and the little boat sailed on.

Anna sat and wept, unable to image what was happening. She couldn't let them leave her. She had to leave first. It was the only way.

After a few minutes, she felt a warm cloak drap across her shoulders, and looked up to see the man's face looking down at her with some concern. "My child, you are safe. Tell me, are the rumors true? Is your sister an evil witch who kills with the power of ice?"

"N-n-n-o," Anna hiccupped. "She's not like that. The winter, it was an accident. She couldn't control her powers. She had to learn to love again."

The man was silent for a moment, and Anna let herself lean into him. He was huge, taller than Kristoff and very wide. He had a dark complexion, with a big graying beard and warm, loving eyes. For some reason, the top of his head was bald and smooth in a perfect circle. She'd never seen anything quiet like it.

"Then your sister is not evil? She does not do the work of the devil?"

"No, unless you count not letting me marry the man I love. Probably for some stupid reason. Or maybe Kristoff doesn't really love me anymore and just wanted power like Hans did. I don't know. I don't know who to trust anymore. Can I trust you? I don't even know your name."

"I am Brother Montoya of Hermanos al Misterioso. I came to Arendelle on behalf of Mother Church at at the order of his holinessEl Papa Urbano IX. We heard rumors of something strange and new, and his holiness wishes to hear a first hand account, that Mother Church might formulate a new response. And, if possible, baptize this new thing and bring it into the Universal Church."

Anna just blinked at that. Her mind was still foggy, and she wasn't quiet sure what those words meant. "You're a priest or something? You don't look like Bishop Harald or one of the monks."

"Ah, that is because Arendelle is Orthodox. I am Catholic. Some of my brothers in Rome would say that the Greeks are heretics, but I do not think so. I have met a few, and they are surely saints who love God. Of course, Hermanos al Misterioso has always had somewhat radical views on salvation."

Something from Anna's mostly ignored lessons clicked in her head, and she nodded. She knew there were different flavors of Christianity in other countries. She'd never really paid attention to it all, or religion in general. Oh, she had been baptized and went to church most of the time, but none of it had ever really meant anything. The only reason she went when she was a girl was that church was one of the few times she saw her sister and other kids, even if only for a few hours.

"So you're here to see if Elsa's a witch or something? Everyone else seems to think she is one. If you're hear to hurt my sister, I, I'll, I'll punch you in the nose and knock you in the sea, just like I did Hans!"

Brother Montoya just laughed and shook his head. "It would be interesting to meet the woman I have heard so many rumors about, but I am not here for her, at least not directly. I am more interested in these men of living water she has created. Do they have a soul, or are they puppets? If they are living, then they must be told of salvation. That is the mission of Hermanos al Misterioso. In your language, we would be 'Brothers to the Mysterious.' We were founded to bring the gospel to all of creation, even that which some would deem unnatural."

"Oh." Anna blinked a few times. "So why did you help me then? Olaf is back there."

"My child, my mission is to go to all peoples, no matter how odd. Be they snowman, or princess, I do God's work. Now, tell me of your troubles, and why you fled. I do not now think you were in mortal peril, as I thought you were."

Anna explained everything. Her fears of abandonment by Kristoff. How Elsa had locked her out for more than a decade. How Hans had tricked her into trusting and loving him out of a selfish desire for power. How Hans had tried to kill her and her sister. That Anna couldn't live with being abandoned again, couldn't live with hearing that her sister or Kristoff didn't love her anymore. How Kristoff had delayed and delayed, refused Anna's offer of her body, of everything she had in a desperate ploy to make him hers forever.

When it was all out, Anna felt hollow and empty, like a weight she'd been carrying all her life and rolled out and fallen into the sea, where it had sunk out of sight and time. She glanced at Montoya and bit her lip nervously. She knew that priests and monks frowned on hanky-panky before marriage. Even if everyone did do it anyway, she felt guilty confessing her attempted adultery. Or was that only if you were married to someone else? Anna couldn't remember.

"My child, I wish I could say that I have never heard your story before," Montoya said sadly. "But I have, too many times. A young person is hurt by someone they love early in their life and feels that no one loves them. They look for love by any means, will do anything to feel valued. Inevitably, they are hurt and disappointed. I hope this is all a misunderstanding with Kristoff, but it may not be. I do not know him. I can offer you only one source of comfort."

"What?" Anna croaked, grateful he did not seem to be judging her.

"Go to God, my child. Give your burdens to Christ, and tell the Madonna of your woes. I do not know how the Greeks do such things, but as a Catholic, you have just confessed your sins to me. I can offer you absolution, but what you need is healing. That, only God can give you."

Anna broke down crying again. "But I'm already a Christian. I go to church and everything."

"Really? I know many that have been baptized and take communion, but I would not call them followers of Christ. When was the last time you spoke to God? Or that God spoke to you?"

"I don't know," Anna admitted. "If I talk to God, will he make Kristoff and Elsa love me, and never abandoned me?"

"No." The Brother shook his head sadly. "Only God will never leave you my child. Go to him, and you will find a man that will always love you."

Anna bit her lip again, and then nodded. "How do I do that?"

Father Montoya smiled.

Authors Note:

Evil priests? Scheming nobles? Traumatized royalty? It's not Disney, but it's medieval Europe! Elsa and Anna both have more wounds than they know what to do with, and one ice skating party does not heal them.